Parliament debates local newspapers

Adam Hewitt • Published 13 Jan 2010 13:00 0 Comments

MPs are debating the future of local newspapers this afternoon and the use of taxpayers' money to fund council magazines.

Wokingham and Earley MP John Redwood is taking part in the Westminster Hall debate from 2.30-4pm.

It follows on from an early day motion tabled by Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Burstow, reading: "That this House believes that local and regional newspapers have a long track record of serving and being at the heart of their communities; notes that local media are widely acknowledged as the most trusted of all media; further believes that the independence of local media is vitally important to proper scrutiny and accountability; is concerned that local authority subsidy of news can create unfair competition, making local commercial media unviable and pose a threat to free speech; is further concerned that 100 local newspapers across the UK closed in 2009; further believes that the requirement to place statutory notices with publications independent of the placing authority should be preserved; and calls on the Competition Commission and Audit Commission to review the impact of the growth of local authority funded newspapers on the local media market and free speech."

The industry body the Newspaper Society (NS) has been lobbying MPs over frequently-published glossy council magazines, but says it has no problem with "traditional" council publications, distributed two or three times a year offering useful information about council services. Research shows that when residents start getting these magazines more than about seven times a year, they are less likely to feel satisfied with their council and feel it offers value for money, but are more likely when they see a magazine once or twice a year.

The NS has criticised weekly and monthly council magazines for trying to set a relentlessly positive news agenda, ignoring council failings, and says these divert vital ad revenue away from local newspapers at a time when many are closing, leaving communities without an independent news source.

Reading East MP Rob Wilson has spoken before in Parliament on the issue, and said this week: "Local newspapers are being driven out of business in some parts of the country because they haven't got the resources to compete with, amongst other things, council publications. If communities are going to scrutinise newly-empowered local government, they must have the tools to do it and local newspapers play a crucial role in that.

"To tackle the problem, we will create tougher rules on town hall publicity spending and the liberalisation of local government data for commercial and voluntary use. Importantly we will also abolish cross-media ownership rules, which prevent local groups owning more than one newspaper or radio station.

"We will also ask councils to take another look at their publications and question if they are going beyond their remit. The Local Authority Publicity code would also be reviewed, with a view to tightening it up. There is a distinction between council publications listing important information about council activity and taxpayer-funded council newspapers with TV listings, sports reports and theatre reviews.

"Local newspapers deserve to compete on equal terms especially as we are in an age where the appetite for independent political scrutiny is greater than ever. I am pleased to see locally that Reading Borough Council has listened to my concerns and appears to be adopting a more sensible approach and hasn't continued with its expensive propoganda magazine."

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